As of March 2015, Montana is one of 19 states that is under divided government and is therefore not one of the state government trifectas.

Sessions

Article V of the Montana Constitution establishes when the Montana State Legislature, of which the House is a part, is to be in session. Section 6 of Article V states that the Legislature is to meet in every odd-numbered year in a regular session of at most ninety legislative days. However, Section 6 allows any Legislature to increase the limit on the length of any subsequent session. Section 6 also allows for the Legislature to meet in special session when convened by the Governor of Montana or when a special session is requested by a majority of the Legislature's members.

Vacancies

If there is a vacancy in the house, the Board of County Commissioners that represent the vacant seat must select a replacement. The Secretary of State must notify the Board of Commissioners and the county central committee of the political party that holds the vacant seat no later than seven days after the vacancy happened. The county central committee has 45 days after receiving notice from the Secretary of State to provide a list of candidates to the Board of County Commissioners. The board must select a replacement no later than 15 days after receiving the list of candidates. If the Senate is in session, the selection must be made no later than five days after receiving a candidate list.[16] Any person selected to fill a Senate seat serves until the next scheduled general election.[17]

History

Partisan balance 1992-2013

From 1992-2013, the Democratic Party was the majority in the Montana State House of Representatives for one year while the Republicans were the majority for 17 years, including the last five years.

Across the country, there were 577 Democratic and 483 Republican State Houses of Representatives from 1992 to 2013.

Over the course of the 22-year study, state governments became increasingly more partisan. At the outset of the study period (1992), 18 of the 49 states with partisan legislatures had single-party trifectas and 31 states had divided governments. In 2013, only 13 states have divided governments, while single-party trifectas held sway in 36 states, the most in the 22 years studied.

SQLI and partisanship

The chart below depicts the partisanship of the Montana state government and the state's SQLI ranking for the years studied. For the SQLI, the states were ranked from 1-50, with 1 being the best and 50 the worst. Montana had Republican trifectas from 1995-2004. Montana's lowest SQLI ranking, finishing at 41st, occurred during those Republican trifectas, from 1999-2001. The state's two highest rankings came in the final five years while under divided government.

Chart displaying the partisanship of Montana government from 1992-2013 and the State Quality of Life Index (SQLI).